Prayer to the Future
by zenithzwei
Summary: He doesn't remember anything. Exhausted and full of wounds, all he can do is grasping memories he continued to forget. In the haziness he stood up, trapped between illusion and reality, guided only by his uncertain heart. He looked up at the broken moon above, the sight making him to exhale in nostalgic awe... And he stepped forward, beginning his search for the Truth of the World.


**Oh. Well... Hi again. I'm wondering why am I starting yet _another_ story when I already have so much in hands... Well, this project is meant for fun so update will come whenever I want. Anyway, enjoy.**

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When he opened his eyes, the boy found glittering light spreading through the dark sky.

"…" He stayed like that for a while, feeling the world around him with his hands and feet.

The ground he touched was cool, wet and humid. It seemed it was raining before he awakened. When he breathed in through the nose, he realized the air was fresh, cold and… smelled like a forest untouched by human hands. As he brushed his arms, he felt prickling sensation from the green grasses he was lying on.

 _…_ _At least it doesn't look like I'm dead if I can feel ticklish._

So he got up, heaving a grunt and staring at the distant land filled with darkness. All over him, unfamiliar trees lined up randomly. There were animal paths but he wasn't sure if he should take those routes.

Why would he think like that? Just like that he questioned himself, and a small part of his mind warned him that he must not, lest he risked his life.

Scratching the back of his head, he winced at sudden throb of pain. He pulled back his hand, recognizing dark stain on the palm of his gloved hand.

Then he blinked. _What am I wearing...?_

He looked at himself, finding his body adorned with leather armors, bracers and skintight underwear. There was a pouch hanging onto his belt, and something solid was strapped on his back.

His hand ran over it and pulled out an object. The brown-haired boy's eyes widened at the black knife he was now holding in his hand.

 _What_ , he asked, feeling dread encroaching his blank mind. Yet the waves of emotion soon vanished as the pale blue light traced over the knife's edge, reflecting familiar light that also delivered a sense of security.

 _Why? Why do I know this knife? It looks strange, dangerous even._

He didn't get why he felt very familiar in holding it. Twirling the knife, he realized that his body was far too accustomed in wielding it. He made a slashing motion forward, reversing the grip and executed a reverse cut.

His eyes traveled over the paths the black blade traced over. He could see it even within the abysmal darkness. As if he had been holding it for a long time. As if he had been fighting with it for his entire life.

 _And I... Felt safe, holding this thing._

Just right then, he heard rustling sounds from behind him. Alerted, the boy stopped word from his mouth, hesitating on what to do but soon enough he crushed that feeling and retreated for a dozen steps.

He lowered his body, bending his legs with full concentration on his legs. His arms raised in front of him as if to defend himself while one hand held the black knife in reverse grip for ease in attacking.

Sweats trickled down his cheeks. The boy was being gazed at by the thing hiding behind the bush. He didn't know what it was due to the shadows cast upon them but he certainly glimpsed a trail of dull red. He gulped down his saliva, sensing paranoia encroaching his mind.

Suddenly a creature leaped out from the darkness.

 _"...!"_

Instantly he dodged the lunge, rolling on the ground and standing back up. His skin scraped the ground and dirt attached itself to his hair. His eyes could somehow capture the attacker but his breath was caught in his throat.

White bones protecting the back and face. A series of fangs. Glaring red eyes, soulless in appearance with inhuman growls reminiscent to a malicious predator.

 _It's an enemy_ , the small voice in the back of his mind told him, strengthening his will to survive.

But then he paused. _Survive...? Why did I even think of fighting it?_

The monstrosity was already turning around to face him. It was two... No, three times larger than him, bearing at full height to a giant bear. Vicious hatred was spewed in white puffs of breaths trailing off its mouth. Then the beast whose arms were longer than normal stood up, dwarfing the boy while eclipsing the stars.

Seeing the monster he didn't know of, the boy was stoned for the briefest moment.

 _What is this thing? What is this monster?_

He didn't know it. Not the beast. Not himself. Neither it was about the moon nor the lands around him.

Even so, something burned inside his chest and he saw something – like a lantern flashing before his eyes. In that bright world, a boy in white emerged.

"Gh...!" The boy moved, breaking the initiative with a dash and a roar.

The beast roared back, overwhelming his by a large margin. The bestial voice shook his body all the way to the marrows of his bones and his heart was shaken in terror.

Even so, like a fool the boy charged, his black knife aiming forward.

The beast swept down its long arm, several claws flashing in silver lines. Despite the size, in the boy's eyes, the attack was fast. Faster than him. Faster than his charge.

At this rate, he'd get maimed by the beast. _I'm going to die—_

"Uu-uuuooooh!" The boy screamed, dropping down and sliding over the slippery ground.

The claws brushed a few strands of his hair, sliced grasses and mauled a portion of the trunk of a tree. Its power was so enormous that had he not dodged, he would have certainly been killed.

But he was alive, and he was still moving. Time was still ticking for him to take the next action!

Passing through the space between the beast's feet, the boy clawed the ground and stomped off the ground, jumping. But there were spikes on the white bone covering the monster's back, so he grabbed one of them and twisted his body to land on the shoulders.

With a short yell he struck down the back of the monster's head with the pommel of his knife. Blood spurted, spraying and he felt the sensation of hammering an iron plate.

But the creature roared mightily, stunning him and suddenly lurching backwards. The boy yelped but he soon realized why when he looked back.

 _It's trying to crush me against the tree_ , he thought but it was too late.

Impact spread through his body. The world blinked in pure white and deep darkness. Before he knew it the ground was on parallel with his line of sight and he felt rusty flavor permeating from his mouth.

 _It hurts_ , he whimpered. _It hurts like hell_ , he coughed, slowly getting up but failing to do so. _Damn it to hell..._

Something was broken. Something must have gone wrong with his body. Otherwise he couldn't have fallen like this. But...

 _What does it matter_ , the boy asked himself, staring at the approaching mass of shadowy creature.

It didn't feel real at all. He couldn't think of this as real at all. He thought that death was something more dramatic, or something saddening. He should have cried, or did he now?

 _I don't know_ , the boy thought in the haziness of consciousness. _I don't remember... I can't recall anything…._

He was picked up and he screamed, feeling burning heat coming from his left leg. He was instantly brought back to the realm of living, glaring at an upside down face of the beast, into the soulless red eyes.

 _Will I die like this? How... How pathetic._

The jaw opened up and foul breath was released. It was disgusting, and terrifying. The beast could swallow his head easily if it wanted to.

 _Pathetic. Am I pathetic then, to die like this?_

The boy wasn't sure. Time seemed to slow down and it felt as if he was staring death in the face for the longest time in his life. He wanted to laugh at the absurdity, but...

Something nagged his mind. Something told him to move – _and so he moved._

Without wasting any moment his hands grasped two fangs, largest of the rest and twisted them outwards. The beast released him as the broken fangs were pulled out from the gum and the boy spun in the air, landing on a knee and a leg before springing upward.

 _Die_ , he screamed as he sank the two fangs into the throat of the black beast. It wasn't enough so he planted his usable foot on the thigh of the enemy and pushed it down, further strengthening his attack.

The two slammed down to the ground with the beast flailing its claws. They could reach him. With the physique of the beast, it could certainly throw him off or kill him. _Those claws could mutilate me._

"Then...!" Letting go one of the fangs, he pulled out the one with both of his hands and raised it high above his head.

He roared as he plunged the fang. All of his strength was poured in that moment. He gambled everything in that hopeless attack, his life and his determination... All of them in one powerful strike.

The sharp white fang pierced through the thick furs and skin. It skewered the flesh, piercing through the throat shattered the bone.

It was a fatal strike, and the beast screamed out in agony. But it was clearly still alive—

"AAAAAAAHHH!" The boy screamed, twisting the fang before pulling and plunging it down again and again.

Two times. Three times. Five times. Nine times. He lost track of how many times he plunged the fang that had long dulled and shattered. His hands were bloody and he could smell the disgusting rusty scent from the beast.

But he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop so he attacked, brutally hurting the beast. There was no thought of how cowardly his act was. He just continued to strike and strike _and_ strike until his arms gave out.

It was then the beast's arms fell to the ground with a loud thud, the body twitching before growing silent. Reflected in his eyes, the glimmering red eyes too lost their luster.

All went quiet, and the battle was determined.

"Haa... Ha..." The boy heaved, his chest rising and falling.

 _I won. I killed. I almost died. I lived. I just murdered something just to live. I survived._

There were so many thoughts befuddling his mind that he couldn't know what to say, or what to expect. The adrenaline was pushing his brain to an overload of information that his head was hurting.

But his joy didn't last when the monster beneath him dissipated into black ashes.

"What...?" He gasped, staring as the ashes blown by the wind and into the sky. "...what... Was that...?"

 _I don't know_ , the tiny voice in his mind answered. _I don't get it. I don't understand..._

His headache was growing more and more intense that he growled in agitation. Raising his arm, he knocked the side of his head twice, feeling both the pain and daze erasing all of his worries.

"Yeah... For now, it's fine." He told himself, nodding. "For now, this is fine..."

He sighed and finally his shoulders relaxed. It was as if he carried something huge like a boulder on them and was released from it. A small smile soon crawled to his face and despite the burning pain coming from his left leg, he sat back and planted his hands onto the ground to support his upper body.

 _The winds… sure are cold._

"...hm?" He muttered, feeling something cool and dry under his hand.

He looked back, finding himself yet again in possession of the black knife. _Wait, 'yet again'...?_

"...could it be..." The boy mumbled, taking the knife into his hand and looked over it.

Identifying it as nothing other than a weapon, the boy raised it to the sky. The black blade was carved and there was an ornament of white line tracing around the blade. He wondered if he could see more details pertaining to it but as the moon aligned with the knife, his mind stilled.

What he was seeing was strange, but it wasn't. He knew that the thing hanging in the dark sky was a moon, but what did that word mean?

He didn't know. He couldn't understand. _It's just... one thing for sure..._

"...that's... The moon...?" The boy muttered, his eyes reflecting the figure of a broken moon.

 _Was the moon always like that? Is that really the moon? But why is it so nostalgic...?_

He didn't get it. He wasn't sure of it. He couldn't remember anything no matter how hard he tried to.

The more he thought about his missing memories, the boy became more frustrated of knowing the futility of his situation. He didn't like it. It was irritating.

His heart throbbed faster and he breathed out hard. He nervously looked around, and still he ended up staying in place, looking up at the moon.

He was alone. Here, in this land, all by himself with something nagging at the back of his mind…

 _No._ Wrong. He wasn't supposed to be alone. He wasn't supposed to be here despite feeling a dreadful sense of familiarity.

 _I have... A place to go back to._

His body twitched, and the boy stood up, staggering while staring at the horizon.

 _I have... A home to return alive to._

His legs moved. One step at a time he walked. He walked as if it was the first time he could do it. He awkwardly moved forward and his legs entangled themselves, failing him.

 _I have... People that I know will be saddened by my death._

The boy gritted his teeth at the pain. He had grunted and he tasted the mud on his tongue. It was disgusting. It wasn't delicious at all.

And so he stood back up only to stagger around.

 _Someone is waiting for me. People... But who are they?_

He stalked through the forest, the knife becoming his only source of safety. Darkness was everywhere. Darkness that scared him while calming him at the same time.

 _I don't know them. I couldn't recall their faces. Who are they?_

He didn't know, so he stopped his feet. But something told him to find them, and so he once again moved forward. The question why or how didn't even cross his mind as he wheezed, gasping for air due to exhaustion.

 _Why do I have to find them? Why do I have to care about this all?_

Even though he asked himself over and over, the boy persisted to march on. Every time such question appeared, his heart told him the answer, crushing his doubts and hesitation with so much ease that he was amazed by his simple self.

 _I have to go. I have to find them. And then I..._

A figure flashed in his mind. Drops of soft white orbs floated down with a ruined city as the background. Standing at the base of a sloped path covers d with white carpet, a girl dressed in dark blue and green turned around, snows falling off her shoulder and her navy blue hair.

 _'See you tomorrow, Hal.'_

The boy clenched his teeth and stomped the ground. He tried to run forward blindly without any guidance, trying his best to ignore how hurting his leg was.

 _How long do I have to move forward_ , he asked himself. _How much further is that warm place? How can I reach it?_

His legs were heavy. His chest was burning even though the night breeze chilled his skin.

"It doesn't... Matter... I have to... I must return to them... I have to tell everyone..."

He gasped for airs, but it didn't erase his discomfort. He stepped forward, but soon enough he lost balance. Only through sheer determination could he regain it and even then, he leaned against a tree, clearly at his limits. Yet he pushed himself off the tree to take one step forward.

 _That I'm here. That I'm alive._

He didn't know when he slumped down. He didn't know when the world turned so dark. He wasn't even able to comprehend his state as haziness consumed him. But he _knew_ his body was still moving, so he waved his arms, trying to grasp anything he could use to reach his destination.

 _Anything is fine,_ he thought. _Anyone, someone,_ he prayed. _Just please…_

 _"_ _Hey! You alright there!?"_

He heard a sound, _like a whisper._ He opened his eyes, glimpsing over silver light. _Who is it?_

He blinked but he couldn't erase the blurs covering his vision. He wondered why but then the stupid voice told him.

 _Ah, I'm at my limits…_

He wanted to laugh, really. Of all things, he was about to fall while thinking frivolous thoughts like that? How idiotic. He really was pathetic. If only he had the strength to shake his head, then he could have at least finished it as being the most pathetic person in the world. But…

 _I miss you…_

And so, before the curtain of darkness enveloped him, the boy lifted his chin, taking one last look at the person before him. Forcing a smile, he must have looked like a doofus. Yet he raised his hand, cupping the soft cheek of the stranger's face.

Haruhiro's lips parted, "Ma...ry..."


End file.
